News

Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust has been awarded funding to create a new ‘endovascular hybrid’ theatre at St Mary’s Hospital, allowing patients with complex blood vessel problems to be treated with the most up-to-date procedures.

£1.865 million of central funding for the development was announced by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care. This forms part of the government’s multi-year £2.9 billion fund made available to modernise facilities and improve patient care.

The hybrid theatre allows surgery and very high quality imaging to be undertaken as a combined procedure in the same operating theatre. This means a team of vascular surgeons and interventional radiologists can work together to carry out endovascular procedures, treating problems with blood vessels without open surgery.

An example would be inserting a stent, using x-ray guidance, to open up a narrowed artery through a small incision. Minimally invasive procedures, such as this, reduce physical trauma to the patient, are less painful and enable a faster physical recovery time, which reduces length of hospital stay.

Patients with major trauma will also benefit from the new theatre by allowing those with multiple injuries to undergo both endovascular and open surgery in the same space.

“Our vascular service is internationally recognised. The new hybrid theatre will allow us to provide the most advanced clinical treatments to patients with vascular problems. It will also bring our facilities into line with the five other ‘vascular hubs’ in the London region, ensuring the future provision of the service.”

Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust vascular surgery has a strong track record of clinical research with Imperial College London and the new operating theatre will be a better platform for further research, including into the use of robotic imaging devices for surgical applications.